For centuries the semi mythical-land named Thule was the embodiment of the ultimate northern wilderness, a place of impossible extremes. Allegedly discovered by Pytheas, a lone Greek explorer in the 4th Century BC, it has captured the imagination of artists, idealists and politicians ever since. For 18th and 19th Century aesthetes, tiring of the classicism of the Grand Tour, Thule represented a far greater and wilder quest, redolent with Nordic sagas. Thule has been sought in places as far ranging as Spitzbergen, The Shetland Islands, Estonia, Iceland and Greenland.

In the history of the various definitions of Thule, it is most commonly seen as a virgin wilderness, yet the only place named Thule is a US Army base dating back to the Cold War, revealing a paradox innate to this elusive place.